The approval means waterfowl hunters will have three choices of shot--steel, bismuth-tin, and tungsten-iron--for this fall's hunting season. The temporary approval comes in response to a petition by the Federal Cartridge Company, which submitted the results of preliminary toxicity tests to the Service for review.
 

"Our goal is to provide hunters the most choices possible while still protecting waterfowl from poisoning," said Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark. "Tungsten-iron passed all the tests so far and, therefore, will be available for use by hunters in the upcoming waterfowl season."
 

The shot was not approved for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska. The Service has some concern that the absorption of tungsten into the femur, kidney, and liver may have some potential effect on the spectacled eider, a species already subject to adverse weather, predation, and lead poisoning. Until the results of reproductive/chronic toxicity tests, which include the assessment of reproduction,
fertility rates, and effects on eggs, have been completed and the Service has reviewed the results, tungsten-iron shot cannot be approved for the delta.
 

In 1991, lead shot was phased out for use in waterfowl hunting because it was found to be toxic to ducks and geese that ingest it while feeding. At that time, steel shot became the only legal load for waterfowl hunting.  

The Service earlier this year approved bismuth-tin in response to a petition by the Bismuth Cartridge Company.
 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages 511 national wildlife
refuges covering 92 million acres, as well as 68 national fish hatcheries.
 

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